Giannis Says He's Not Planning to Leave Bucks: 'That's Not Happening'

It's fair to question whether the current iteration of the Milwaukee Bucks has reached its ceiling after it was eliminated in five games by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Tuesday night despite being the top overall seed.   

It's also fair to question if superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will be eligible to sign a supermax contract extension this offseason but could also hit free agency in a year if he doesn't, might have a better chance of winning a title elsewhere. 

But the Greek Freak said in no uncertain terms Tuesday night that his future lies in Milwaukee and that he wouldn't try to push his way to a new destination this offseason. 

"It's not happening. That's not happening," he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. "Some see a wall and go in [another direction]. I plow through it. We just have to get better as a team, individually and get right back at it next season."

That means one of two things: Either Antetokounmpo will sign a five-year supermax extension this offseason expected to be worth somewhere around $220 million (about $80 million more than a team in free agency could offer him a year from now, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks), or he'll bypass that payday and still hit free agency in a year. 

The latter option would give him the sort of leverage over Milwaukee's front office that LeBron James often utilized in Cleveland by signing shorter deals: Build a true title contender around me or I'll leave. 

And rumors are already swirling that the Bucks could make a play for Chris Paul, with the Oklahoma City Thunder likely transitioning into a rebuilding effort. 

A Greek Freak trade seems out of the question for both sides after Antetokounmpo's comments Tuesday. Even if he wanted out, Bontemps reported that "if Antetokounmpo passes on signing the supermax, multiple sources are adamant that the Bucks won't trade him. Milwaukee will have to persuade him to stay—and quickly."

Or maybe not. Maybe Antetokounmpo relishes the challenge of trying to win a title with the Bucks.

"If winning a championship was easy, everyone would have one," he told Haynes. "We lost. Everyone saw that we lost. It's disappointing, but what are we going to do? We're going to keep working. I've got confidence in my teammates."

General manager Jon Horst and the front office will hope he has that same confidence in them.